


mafs oneshot: birthday boy lance

by kittymills



Series: married at first sight [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: DEMI KEITH, Gen, Lance's bday, allurance, lance and keith drinking, mafs prequel, pining lance, strictly platonic keith and lance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 14:48:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15463758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kittymills/pseuds/kittymills
Summary: Every year since they turned old enough to drink it’s been the same story.Lance badgers Keith into showering him love and affection on his birthday, Keith whines about it to anyone who’ll listen.But some how it works and there is no way that Lance is going to give up the one chance he has each year to bend his best friend to his will.





	mafs oneshot: birthday boy lance

**Author's Note:**

> I've had this scene in my head for months and it's kind of alluded to in the chapter of MAFS where Keith and Shiro are singing in the car.
> 
> So it’s our sharpshooter’s b’day! No secrets that I love Lance, I think he’s going to be something special by the time the series finishes. Decided to give him some love and pump out this little prequel in celebration of his special day. 
> 
> This also goes out to @amidalogicdive because we’ve chatted about this scene before :)
> 
> also, the song they sing in the fic is ain’t no mountain high enough because they’re search and rescue paramedics. get it? ain’t no mountain high enough, ain’t no valley low enough, to keep me from getting to youuuuu (Lance thought it was clever, ok), oh and in this AU, the drinking age is 18!!

**MAFS prequel -  Lance’s 22 nd birthday **

 

* * *

 

Every year since they turned old enough to drink it’s been the same story.

Lance badgers Keith into showering him love and affection on his birthday, Keith whines about it to anyone who’ll listen.

But some how it works and there is no way that Lance is going to give up the one chance he has each year to bend his best friend to his will.

For his own good of course.

“Why can’t you just… let me buy you a lap dance or something equally gross like a normal person?” Keith groans into his drink.

The karaoke bar they’re at is new, opened just last week and still trying to reel in patrons. Their extended happy hours were too good a lure to two rookie medics that are only just starting to get used to a regular pay check. There’s a lot of deep purple and pink lighting washing over every surface and comfortable booths and couches surrounding a central stage with a large screen. There are private booths for private parties too, but Lance was too tight to shell out for one of those.

Besides, what was the point of being able to make Keith do things well outside his comfort zone if there was no one around to witness it?

“Where would the fun in that be?”

Keith gives him a dirty look. “Why do we have to do karaoke? I hate singing.”

“Keith, you hate everything so how is this any different? No, this is the one chance for you to show me how much you love me in a way that can’t be bought.”

“I don’t love you,” Keith mutters but it’s weak enough that Lance knows he doesn’t mean it. Of course Keith loves him. They’ve been best bud for like… ever.

“Uh, yeah you do. You would be completely useless without me, and you know it.”

Keith raises his middle finger but he’s grinning under that ridiculous mop of hair. Seriously, he’s had the same haircut since they were fifteen, was he ever going to change it? Probably not, Keith always went against the grain. He’d softened up a little over the years, or maybe Lance was just used to him now. He knew which sharp edges to avoid… usually.  

Lance nudges his drink towards his friend.

“Come on, drink your liquid courage like a good boy. We’re going up after this next group finally gives us the stage. I’ve got a new song for us this year.”

Keith looks suitably concerned by that. There’s a flare of panic in his eyes that Lance kind of wishes he could take a snapshot of and tuck away for later. Keith might have a temper but he doesn’t scare easily.

“Fuck,” Keith stares at the glass. “I’m going to need something stronger than that then.”

“Well, why didn’t you say so?” Lance grins and signals to the bartender, ordering another round for them and the table of workmates they’ve come with and pointing to Keith when it comes time to take payment. He can see the way Keith is struggling not to snarl when he hands over his credit chit but Lance smiles innocently as he does.

The one night of the year Keith would do anything for him and Lance has plans to milk it within an inch of his life.

Or, until Keith thumps him, whichever comes first.

They down the first two rounds of tequila without much thought but by the third one, Keith’s eyes are a little unfocused and the snarl that comes out of his mouth sounds positively inhuman. Lance isn’t entirely sure he wasn’t raised by wolves, really. Wait, his uncles kinda looked like wolves. Or were they wolverines? One of them did. What was his name? Colander? Califlower? Kolivan, that’s right.

Lance stares at the rest of the shots, suddenly not so sure about this. He slumps against the bar stool, groaning a little.

“I fucking hate you,” Keith tells him, snarling again.He’s gripping the fourth shot and a slice of lemon with a look of fierce determination in his eyes. Lance wonders if he should be the bigger person and let Keith off easy. They were friends after all. He could be magnanimous and-

Keith downs the fourth shot before Lance can say a word. Lance whistles. Or at least he tries to. It kind of sounds a little like a raspberry. But it’s cool, he meant to do that.

“I hate you,” Keith says again, gripping the edge of the bar.

“I know,” Lance tries to pat him on the shoulder cheerfully. He kind of misses and ends up mussing up Keith’s hair instead. Ew.  “Hate means love in Keith speak.”

“What the.. what the fuck does that-”

“Don’t you dare puke on me, buddy.”

“Fuck off, if I do, you deserve it.”

“The only thing I deserve is your love and eternal devotion.”

“How about just my boot up your ass,” Keith leers at him. “That’s free.”

“God, you are the worst drunk. It makes you even angrier.”

“It’s you, Lance. You make me angry.”

Keith goes to stand up but he wobbles slightly. Before Lance can say a word, Keith turns, and runs smack into the chest of a young officer resplendent in a galaxy garrison greys. Luckily the officer is sober enough that he catches his drink before Keith can spill it all over his uniform.

“Whoa, easy there tiger.”

“Ugh, sorry,” Keith mutters. He doesn’t look up, and slides back onto his stool.  The officer gives Keith one more look before turning back to his friends.

Lance knows that look. He recognizes that look. He’s seen it reflected back at himself in the reflections of windows whenever the beautiful (and completely unattainable) Allura is in the room.

“Dude,” Lance nudges Keith excitedly. It’s all elbows and catches Keith hard enough in the side he releases a faint _oomph_ at the contact. Keith mutters something Lance doesn’t catch and grips the edge of the bar again. Behind them on the small stage, a group of singers are finishing off their song.

“Keith, I think that guy was into you.”

“What guy?”

“The one you just walked face first into.”

“Fuck off,” Keith groans.“He was not.”

“Yeah, he was,” Lance catches the officer looking back at Keith, a small frown on his face before he’s engulfed in the crowd of his friends. It looks like they’re celebrating something. An idea starts to form somewhere in the back of Lance’s mind. At least he thinks it is, it’s still hazy and out of reach.

Damn that tequila.

“You should go talk to him.”

Keith grunts without bothering to look up. Lance studies his friend for a moment. There’s a thought itching at the back of his skull, something he’s always wondered about but thought to actually ask out loud.  He peers at Keith.

“Why don’t you ever date?” he finally demands. “I mean, you’re not ugly, if you like the scruffy, nerfherder kind of look-“

“The _what?”_

“-and you’re not really that much of an asshole most of the time so what gives?”

Keith gives him a sideways glance. He looks a little like he’s chewing the inside of his cheek, but he also might just be trying not to puke on his shoes. Lance shrugs to himself, fully expecting Keith to ignore him or deflect him like he usually does but it seems to catch them both by surprise when he doesn’t.

Wow, either he’s drunker than he thought or Keith’s off his rocker tonight.

“I dunno know, couldn’t be bothered I guess. It’s not that big a deal.”

Lance blinks. “But don’t you get like…” Lance waves his hand vaguely in Keith’s direction. _“Urges?”_

“Urges.” Keith looks at him blankly.

“Jesus Christ, Keith, don’t make me spell it out for you, are you going to make me spell it out for you? Sex. S. E. –“

“Okay, okay! I get it!”

“Well?”

“No, I just… no?”

“Don’t ever look at a hot guy or girl and just want to… tap that?”

“Ew, Lance. No. It’s… It’s more about personality.”

Lance stares at him for a moment. Keith might as well be speaking a foreign language and he’s too drunk to work out exactly what Keith is trying to say so he does like anything that feels too hard, he ignores it. Future Lance can deal with it. Present Lance wants to sing karaoke.

Their friends show up at the bar, dragging them up onto the stage. It’s a bit of a sloppy stumble through the crowd and he has to blink once he’s on the stage. The lights are bright and he can’t see shit in the crowd. Someone hands him a mic and he slings an arm around Keith’s shoulders as the music starts.

“Hey, this one is for the flyboys in the back!” he yells and then he starts to sing. Keith stands rigidly beside him for the first few lines before sighing heavily and joining in until they hit the chorus and it ends up being half yelling into the mic rather than anything skillful but Lance doesn’t care because he’s having the time of his life and so is Keith and pretty much the only thing that could make this night any better would be if Allura somehow materialized in the crowd and told him she’d go out with him.

 

* * *

 

Later in the night, once the clock has ticked over passed midnight and it’s not his birthday anymore, he kind of gets his wish.

Their phones trill with an alert and he and Keith look at each other in sudden resigned horror to realise they’ve been called into work the next morning and they’re nowhere near sober and somehow they find themselves back at Lance’s apartment, Nyma and Rolo and a few of their other workmates in tow and passed out in various places around the living room.

Keith is on the floor beside his bed, talking into his phone.

“Thanks, Allura, we owe you big time for this…. Yeah, I know. Okay… see you soon.”

Lance bolts upright, a mistake when the questionable contents in his stomach slosh dangerously. He knew he shouldn’t have listened to Rolo and stopped for that kebab. The grease was supposed to soak up the alcohol, they tell themselves. It doesn’t and they both ignore Keith’s snide quip about knowing better.

“She’s coming with IV’s. We’ll be good by the morning,” Keith tells him. Lance has to squint. Keith doesn’t look so good, slightly paler than usual, a weird tint to his skin. He hopes Keith remembers to hold his hair back if he’s going to ride the porcelain bus because Lance sure as shit wasn’t going to.

Even their friendship had limits.

Allura arrives a short time later and Lance watches as she steps over the prone bodies on the floor of his apartment and how she goes straight to Keith first. Of course, she would. Keith was the one that called her and… Lance frowns.

How does Keith have Allura’s number? When did they get so chummy chummy? Why wasn’t Keith interested in even looking at anyone when they hit the town and why-

Oh. Oh, shit.

“Are you guys together?!” Lance demands suddenly. His voices goes a little higher pitched than he would have liked but he’s a little too upset at the thought to care. Because of course, it would be _Keith_ that got Allura’s attention, beautiful, smart, incredible Allura, Keith who was the better pilot, the better medic the better-

“Lance,” Allura says softly. He has to blink at how she’s suddenly sitting on the edge of the bed. He hadn’t even noticed her move. She looks as beautiful as she always does, the deep hue of her skin coated in a shimmer and her smooth shoulders bared. Her silver hair is roaming free in long waves down her back in gentle waves and she smells like his abuela’s rose garden.

“Sorry, I mean, if you are then that’s great and I just-“

Keith makes a snorting noise from the floor that cuts him off and Lance shoots him a look even though he knows Keith can’t see it. He does see Allura’s lips twitch though.

“We’re not,” Allura tells him quietly, even as she readies what she needs and her long cool fingers lay against his skin. There’s a slight prick but he doesn’t notice it, too busy soaking up the way she half bites her lips in concentration then lays a hand over the back of his hand until he looks up.

“By the way, happy birthday, Lance.”

She gives him a small smile before leaving him to go back to Keith and repeat the process.  

Lance falls back on the bed, the drip in his arm and he watches the way the slow, steady drops fall in the bag.

When Allura’s gone, Keith sits up.

“She likes you, you know.”

“What?”

Keith rolls his eyes and flops back down. Lance rolls over, the tug of the IV in his arm reminding him to be careful. “Wait, do you mean Allura?”

“No, the big purple alien in your closet,” Keith says sarcastically. “Of course I mean Allura.”

“Oh.”  

Lance finds himself too tired to respond much. “She’s a medical prodigy and I’m just a boy from Cuba. She’s too good for me.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Keith says and Lance is pretty sure he must be dreaming this because that doesn’t sound like something Keith would say. Then again, he’s still pretty drunk right now so who knows. “She likes you, you just need to stop trying so hard.”

Lance sends a glance in Keith’s direction. Nope. He’s not joking.  

A small flicker of hope sparks up inside him as he thinks back on Keith’s words.

Maybe there’s a chance after all.


End file.
